Hammanskraal cholera deaths could be double official tally, says Christian activist who plans to take government to court

The cholera death toll in Hammanskraal could be as high as 50, more than double the official count of 24 deaths, local Christain activist and advocate Moafrika Wa Maila told Gateway News today.

He said the additional deaths were reported by community members this morning at a meeting in a local church hosted by Active African Christians United Movement (AACUN), which he leads. He said there had been a good response to AACUN’s inivitation to all bereaved families in Hammanskraal to attend the meeting to prepare for proposed legal action against the government on behalf of the families.

Moafrika, who says the cholera outbreak is due to the town’s contaminated water supply which the government has neglected for two decades, said the atmosphere at the meeting was very emotional as people took turns sharing their experiences. The meeting heard of recent deaths that were not recorded in the officail tally. Some residents reportedly died on the way to hospital.

Moafrika said a common theme of the testimonies was that people died after experiencing diarrhea.

He said that AACUN will file three court actions next week: an urgent application demanding clean water from the City of Tshwane; an application to the Constitutional Court for compensation for bereaved families due to gross abuse of their human rights; and for an order finding the government criminally liable for neglecting to provide the town with potable water.

Commenting on a visit to Hammanskraal today by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who began his visit at the defunct Rooiwal waste treatment plant, Moafrika said the visit was for electioneering purposes and not for problem solving.

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